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Sources tell Crain's that Citizens Bank of Flint is demanding the Detroit Science Center board bring in liquidators so that the bank can recoup some portion of the money owed to it by the science center through the sale of its contents.

Citizens holds the debt on a $1 million credit line which is bundled with a $4.8 million mortgage tied to the science center's 2001 expansion.

The bank did not return messages left Thursday afternoon.

Facing cash shortages, the Detroit Science Center last year violated a loan covenant on its $1 million credit line, triggering Citizens—which faced its own financial issues— to call the loans.

Since then, the science center has seen significant management turnover, with the departure of its former president and CEO Kevin Prihod last August, its interim president and CEO John Miller who had been vice chairman, and its longtime chairman Francois Castaing two weeks ago.

Tom Stephens, a 43-year veteran of General Motors and trustee of the science center, is now serving as chairman. And James Issner, who formerly held top engineering management positions at Chrysler and for a short time at Penske Automotive Group. and most recently served as vehicle line executive for Anaheim, Calif.-based Fisker Automotive Inc., is voluntarily serving as president and CEO of the science center.

The Detroit Science Center board reportedly now seeks $10 million to cover the center's debt and operating money for both it and the Detroit Children's Museum which it operates under an agreement with Detroit Public Schools.

And sources say the science center doesn't have long to raise the money.

Calls placed Wednesday and Thursday to a public relations representative for Stephens— who announced this week his plans to retire in April from his position as GM's vice chairman and chief technology officer— were not returned.

Shelly Otenbaker, senior vice president of Eisbrenner Public Relations and a science center trustee, confirmed that Stephens is the new chairman of the Detroit Science Center.

Stephens "has been acting in that role and working with the whole board (on) fundraising," she said.

The General Motors Foundation did not return messages left Wednesday and Thursday.

But Jim Vella, president of the Ford Motor Co. Fund, said in a statement issued through a spokeswoman that the car maker and its foundation continue "to be a major supporter of the Detroit Science Center."

Ford believes the science center is a vital part of the Detroit community, Vella said.

"We know the team at DSC is working hard to develop a plan and sources of funding to reopen the DSC and keep it a viable entity. We fully support their efforts," he said.

The science center's board has also reportedly approached Roger Penske of Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Automotive Group Inc. for support. But Penske declined any comment.

As I reported last week, the science center board has also had conversations with paving magnate and local philanthropist Robert Thompson who offered nine years ago to put $200 million behind education in Detroit.

(His offer was later rebuffed over fears that the high-performing charter schools he planned to create would compete with traditional public schools in Detroit.)

Thompson could be in a position to help or save the science center. His Thompson Educational Foundation, which provided $15 million to establish the University Preparatory math and science charter middle school on the grounds of the science center, has first rights to purchase the science center building.The foundation is leasing the land on which the school is located from the science center.

The agreement between the science center and the Thompson camp also includes a provision that neither can change the use of their buildings to something other than educational purposes without the other's approval.